31:10 “Once 1 during breeding season I saw 2 in a dream that the male goats mating with 3 the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
20:3 But God appeared 7 to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead 8 because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” 9
41:1 At the end of two full years 13 Pharaoh had a dream. 14 As he was standing by the Nile,
12:6 The Lord 15 said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, 16 I the Lord 17 will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.
22:26 Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.
22:1 18 The Israelites traveled on 19 and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan River 20 across from Jericho. 21
3:5 The Lord spoke to Moses:
33:15 In a dream, a night vision,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they sleep in their beds.
33:16 Then he gives a revelation 22 to people,
and terrifies them with warnings, 23
33:17 to turn a person from his sin, 24
and to cover a person’s pride. 25
33:25 then his flesh is restored 26 like a youth’s;
he returns to the days of his youthful vigor. 27
1 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator, “and it happened at the time of.”
2 tn Heb “in the time of the breeding of the flock I lifted up my eyes and I saw.”
3 tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.
4 tn Heb “there is to my hand.”
5 tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.
6 tn Heb “from speaking with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 24, is uncertain. See the note on the same phrase in v. 24.
7 tn Heb “came.”
8 tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.
9 tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.
10 tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”
11 tn Heb “a man his dream in one night.”
12 tn Heb “a man according to the interpretation of his dream.”
13 tn Heb “two years, days.”
14 tn Heb “was dreaming.”
15 tn Heb “he.”
16 tn The form of this construction is rare: נְבִיאֲכֶם (nÿvi’akhem) would normally be rendered “your prophet.” The singular noun is suffixed with a plural pronominal suffix. Some commentators think the MT has condensed “a prophet” with “to you.”
17 tn The Hebrew syntax is difficult here. “The Lord” is separated from the verb by two intervening prepositional phrases. Some scholars conclude that this word belongs with the verb at the beginning of v. 6 (“And the Lord spoke”).
18 sn The fifth section of the book (22:1-33:56) traces the Israelite activities in Transjordan. It is hard to determine how long they were in Transjordan, but a good amount of time must have elapsed for the number of moves they made and the wars they fought. There is a considerable amount of information available on this section of the book. Some of the most helpful works include: H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS); E. Burrows, The Oracles of Jacob and Balaam; G. W. Coats, “Balaam, Sinner or Saint?” BR 18 (1973): 21-29; P. C. Craigie, “The Conquest and Early Hebrew Poetry,” TynBul 20 (1969): 76-94; I. Parker, “The Way of God and the Way of Balaam,” ExpTim 17 (1905): 45; and J. A. Wharton, “The Command to Bless: An Exposition of Numbers 22:41–23:25,” Int 13 (1959): 37-48. This first part introduces the characters and sets the stage for the oracles. It can be divided into four sections: the invitation declined (vv. 1-14), the second invitation extended (vv. 15-21), God opposes Balaam (vv. 22-35), and Balaam meets Balak (vv. 36-41).
19 tn The verse begins with the vav (ו) consecutive.
20 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
21 map For the location of Jericho see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
22 tn The idiom is “he uncovers the ear of men.” This expression means “inform” in Ruth 4:4; 1 Sam 20:2, etc. But when God is the subject it means “make a revelation” (see 1 Sam 9:15; 2 Sam 7:27).
23 tc Heb “and seals their bonds.” The form of the present translation, “and terrifies them with warnings,” is derived only by emending the text. Aquila, the Vulgate, Syriac, and Targum Job have “their correction” for “their bond,” which is what the KJV used. But the LXX, Aquila, and the Syriac have “terrifies” for the verb. This involves a change in pointing from יָחְתֹּם (yakhtom) to יְחִתֵּם (yÿkhittem). The LXX has “appearances of fear” instead of “bonds.” The point of the verse seems to be that by terrifying dreams God makes people aware of their ways.
24 tc The MT simply has מַעֲשֶׂה (ma’aseh, “deed”). The LXX has “from his iniquity” which would have been מֵעַוְלָה (me’avlah). The two letters may have dropped out by haplography. The MT is workable, but would have to mean “[evil] deeds.”
25 tc Here too the sense of the MT is difficult to recover. Some translations took it to mean that God hides pride from man. Many commentators changed יְכַסֶּה (yÿkhasseh, “covers”) to יְכַסֵּחַ (yÿkhasseakh, “he cuts away”), or יְכַלֶּה (yÿkhalleh, “he puts an end to”). The various emendations are not all that convincing.
26 tc The word רֻטֲפַשׁ (rutafash) is found nowhere else. One suggestion is that it should be יִרְטַב (yirtav, “to become fresh”), connected to רָטַב (ratav, “to be well watered [or moist]”). It is also possible that it was a combination of רָטַב (ratav, “to be well watered”) and טָפַשׁ (tafash, “to grow fat”). But these are all guesses in the commentaries.
27 tn The word describes the period when the man is healthy and vigorous, ripe for what life brings his way.
28 tn Grk “behold, an angel.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
29 tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.
30 sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.
31 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
32 tn Or “the judge’s seat.”
33 tn The word “message” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
34 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
35 tn The Greek particle γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated here.
36 tn Or “suffered greatly in a dream.” See the discussion on the construction κατ᾿ ὄναρ (kat’ onar) in BDAG 710 s.v. ὄναρ.